"Charging through the Americas on a silent, electric odyssey."
Long Way Up serves as the high-tech conclusion to the travel trilogy featuring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. Released in 2020 on Apple TV+, the series follows the pair as they journey from the southern tip of South America to Los Angeles. Unlike their previous expeditions, this 13,000-mile trek relied on prototype electric Harley-Davidson motorcycles. This shift toward sustainable travel defined the show's identity, highlighting the logistical hurdles of charging infrastructure in remote regions. Beyond the technology, the series captured the enduring friendship between the two leads after a decade-long hiatus. Its legacy remains rooted in its promotion of green transit and its ability to maintain the adventurous spirit of Long Way Round for a modern, environmentally conscious audience.
| Watched? | # | Air Date | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Sep 18, 2020 | Preparation | |
| E2 | Sep 18, 2020 | Ushuaia | |
| E3 | Sep 18, 2020 | Southern Patagonia | |
| E4 | Sep 25, 2020 | The Andes | |
| E5 | Oct 02, 2020 | Atacama Desert Into Bolivia | |
| E6 | Oct 09, 2020 | Bolivia | |
| E7 | Oct 16, 2020 | Peru | |
| E8 | Oct 23, 2020 | Ecuador | |
| E9 | Oct 30, 2020 | Colombia, Panama & Costa Rica | |
| E10 | Nov 06, 2020 | Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala & Mexico | |
| E11 | Nov 13, 2020 | Oaxaca to L.A. |
Production Type: Limited Documentary Series
Long Way Up is a standalone Limited Documentary Series designed as a completed, finite historical narrative. Following the precedent set by its predecessors in 2004 and 2007, this production was conceived as a singular, logistically complex expedition with a defined geographic start and end point. The narrative follows Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they traverse 13,000 miles from the tip of South America to Los Angeles, focusing on the specific challenge of using prototype electric motorcycles.
The scale of the production involved over 100 days of travel across thirteen countries, requiring a dedicated support crew and specialized charging infrastructure to accommodate the experimental nature of the vehicles. Because the series documents a specific, time-bound physical journey rather than an ongoing episodic format, the story concluded naturally once the protagonists reached their final destination. This finite structure ensures the series serves as a complete historical record of a specific technological and personal milestone in the travel history of the participants.